Where Did 84 Mpg Come From?

[Ty]

Ty, I think your computer thinks I am the only one you reply to. LOL Z

LOL... and so it would seem. Obviously, that was for Lil4X... I don't know what I was looking at but I did reply to your post there... I blame mind control.

 

[Cali Chris]

(unless someone develops a magic gas!)

Hydrogen?



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[Ty]

Hydrogen?



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I'm a fan of hydrogen and eventually, someone will develop a way to store enough of it to give a car some good range. But, you also need a way to refill them... chicken and egg syndrome.

 

[Ekh]

I agree that 84 mpg is an arbitrary number, but it's a fun number to play with. But consider this -- there is NO commercially produced gasoline-powered car that even comes close to that mileage. Even most hybrids can't touch it. So if Mr. Elio is sticking to this number (and it's corollary, the price), he is holding up an incredibly high standard. Will he look like a fool if the car actually delivers 80 mpg? Maybe, but I don't think so. Detractors would sneer, and the rest of us go get our Elios ASAP.

Frankly, I'd rather see the price inch upwards a bit to accommodate the rear view cam, a bit more horsepower (maybe even a mild turbo version), and a blue-tooth enabled sound system that will accept gps inputs from aftermarket gps units (or my cell phone's maps and directions for that matter).

Holding the price and mpg targets as absolutes means there's a real risk of "cheaping out" on other components -- notably suspension, brake, and exhaust system stuff. If either the price or mpg could drift slightly, you might get a MUCH better optimized vehicle when production finally begins. But meanwhile, if Elio even comes close to his targets, he will have worked miracles.

 

[Snick]

Just to playing the devils advocate here? Don't they pay taxes on the electricity they use to charge their car? Maybe the allocation of those funds need to be looked at?


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Exactly. PUC taxes go to fund other areas than road taxes. I can see no way to tax electricity used to charge an electric vehicle without mandating smart, net metering, which is a political no-go; ergo, road taxes should be changed/simplified similar to my proposal--in my opinion only. Heavy users would pay more. Light users would pay less. Each in proportion to the damage her car causes to the roads.

And don't get me started on studded tires in states with hardly any snow!

 

[Inigo93]

What I propose is a simple ton*miles tax in place of all motor fuel taxes. At each registration renewal, you'd pay however many miles you traveled since last time multiplied by the weight of your vehicle, with you in it. You could drive up on a scale at the DMV or emissions testing site and pay to renew your vehicle tags at that time. It would be more fair in that heavier vehicles and those that travel a lot of miles pay more, since they damage the roads more.

Simple. Fair. Obvious.

Fair and obvious, yes. But not simple.... Lines at the DMV are already insane. Make it such that everybody has to physically visit to show their mileage and such every year to renew? Ouch!

 

[Ty]

Exactly. PUC taxes go to fund other areas than road taxes. I can see no way to tax electricity used to charge an electric vehicle without mandating smart, net metering, which is a political no-go; ergo, road taxes should be changed/simplified similar to my proposal--in my opinion only. Heavy users would pay more. Light users would pay less. Each in proportion to the damage her car causes to the roads.

And don't get me started on studded tires in states with hardly any snow!

Tell me about it. Again, mileage and weight should go into any new formula for a road tax... but only if they get rid of the gasoline and diesel taxes that correspond... don't want to double tax.

 

[Lil4X]

Well, we could do what most of the world does and tax by engine displacement.

 

[Ty]

Well, we could do what most of the world does and tax by engine displacement.

That takes care of the passers but what about those electrics? Mileage based and weight seems to me to be the most fair. Big trucks do tear up roads more than the Elio will!

 

[Lil4X]

Right now, there are far too few electrics on the road to make any kind of dent in tax revenues. Same for any other alternative propulsion, hydrogen, fuel cells, LNG, etc. The infrastructure to supply fuel to cars at the curb just isn't there, nor will it be for years.